Tuesday 13 December 2016

CLERICAL IMMATURITY

CLERICAL IMMATURITY



WHAT DO YOU THINK THE PICTURE ABOVE IS - AND WHOSE PICTURE IS IT?

To help you make up your mind have a look at the contents.

We see Old Country Rose china on a mahogany coffee table. We see a nice slice of apple tart ready for consumption - followed by a Cadbury's Flake and two other chocolate bars. 

We see a boy band on television and the source of the photograph says: "WAITING FOR DOWNTON ABBEY TO START".

It is a picture that was posted on Social Media by an individual - on their Twitter account.

Is it from a teenage girl? A teenage girl would certainly be interested in a boy band and indeed may very well want a meal of apple tart and chocolate.

But I doubt that this picture comes from a teenage girl's room - and certainly not from a teenage boys room - there are no smelly socks about :-)

Now it could be a picture from a teenage girl about to have a meal in her granny's house. That would explain the Old Country Rose and the old fashioned mahogany table. 

Or indeed the picture could be taken from a granny's Twitter account. You do find the odd granny on Twitter.


BUT - the picture is actually taken from a young priest's Twitter account!

We have heard from Father X...............

So  let's call this priest Father Y.


Why would a young priest be ensconced in an old fashioned sitting room - watching a boy band - waiting for Downton Abbey to begin - probably at 8 pm - using Old Country Rose China - and eating an unhealthy meal of apple tart and three chocolate bars?

Are there no youth clubs in his parish at that time? Are there no family homes for him to visit in order to catch people after they come home from work?

I would have expected a young male priest to be watching TV with a mug of tea or coffee in his hand - or even a can of Tennants and a bag of crisps. 



When I was this priests age I was stationed in Belfast's Divis Flats.

I was in the Parish Youth Club every night from 7 pm until 9.30 pm.

And after that I was out with the Divis woman trying to stop the kids ( the joyriders)  driving stolen cars into our area.





I would have been taking those cars off the 14 15 year old joyriders and returning them to the police station to be returned to their rightful owners. 

And after the cars had been stopped I would have been running a late night club I started for the joyriders from 10 pm till 2 am to keep them out of mischief.

At that stage of my life I had no interest in mahogany coffee tables. Old Country Rose China, Boy Bands or Downtown Abbey.

The odd night of the week I would have joined the youth club leaders in a social club for a pint - and quite often heard confessions in a room behind the bar.

I generally slept from 2 am to 8.30 am - but only after walking around the whole perimeter of the parish every night - to make sure my flock was safe.


FATHER Y's PARISH:

I actually have pastoral experience of Father Y's parish.

When I was a curate in Kilkeel (1983 - 1984) I was part of a multi diocesan team of priests who did a visiting blitz in Father Y's parish for two weeks. I spent one week there.

I deliberately chose to visit the more socially deprived parts of this parish.

In my house to house visits I discovered that most houses had not seen a priest for years and decades.

I also came across personal / pastoral / social problems like marriage breakdown, alcohol addiction, drug addiction, poverty, homelessness, debt, relatives of the imprisoned, prisoners families who requested me to visit their prisoner loved ones, mental illness, relatives of those who had taken their own lives, sorrowful widows and widowers, gay people who felt alienated etc etc.




If things were that bad in Father Y's parish in 83 / 84 you can be certain that there are even worse these days.

How is it that so many young priests have so much time to spend on Social Media?

How is it that they have so much time to sit watching TV and eating off Old Country Rose?

Could it be that they do not do any or enough real pastoral work like visiting deprived families in their parishes?




Could it be that they are too interested in social media, dressing up in lace albs and wearing Tridentine vestments?

Could it be that they are too busy cosying up to members of the hierarchy - what the Irish called in the old days - "Bishop's Bum Boys"?

Could it be that they are too busy meeting each other to talk about relatively unimportant things?

Could it be that some of them are very, very compromised?




"IN OLDER TIMES IN IRELAND 
PRIESTS WERE GOLD AND CHALICES WOODEN.
TODAY I WONDER IF THE CHALICES ARE GOLD
AND THE PRIESTS ARE ALL WOODEN"?














85 comments:

  1. Don't mean to be a insufferable know it all but the China is celebration rose not old country rose.

    Loved the smelly socks line that was brilliant. Mind you from reading these bloggs and the things some of these priests get up to I'd say some of them could do with a splash of dettol round the old cock

    ReplyDelete
  2. For God's sake Pat will you leave this young priest alone. You seem obsessed with him. He's actually a very sincere, decent and well-intentioned young man. Maybe he is a bit immature, but considering all that's been revealed on this blog over recent months I'd hardly say immaturity, bad diet, fine china or watching Downton Abbey are in the same league.

    Stick to exposing the real bad guys Pat! God knows, there's enough of them!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Perhaps you're right.

      But it is puzzling / worrying that Fr Y is so immature.

      What other young man his age is living like that?

      I hope you are right about it being confined to china etc.

      Delete
  3. Rad Trad Rugby Lad13 December 2016 at 11:29

    A priest relaxing in front of the TV with a cup of tea to watch Downton Abbey at the end of a long Sunday is not shocking, in fact it's quite normal. I've seen no evidence that that particular priest is anything but a friendly, hard-working cleric. Maybe his only crime is being too traditionally minded for your liking. Seems to me the gayest priests are the ones who hate anything traditional.

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  4. Downton Abbey is not on on Sundays.

    You are wrong.

    The gayest priests are the one who love lace and all kinds of liturgical cross dressing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Rad Trad Rugby Lad13 December 2016 at 12:24

      Downton Abbey originally aired on Sunday nights on UTV, you can clearly see the X Factor results show on screen in the photo, which preceded Downton Abbey. Get your facts right. In my experience the gay priests love to dance around or play the guitar at Mass. You're gay and you hate lace and traditional vestments, which says it all. The manly priests are the traditional dudes who are not afraid to wear lace.

      Delete
    2. My neighbours have bought a nice car for their eldest daughter - nothing unusual about parents buying the first car for their children.
      Proof? Look around or ask around!

      Delete
    3. 12:24, you consider 'dudes' not afraid to wear lace 'manly'?

      You're as queer as a bottle of chips, aren't you?

      Delete
    4. Rad Trad Rugby Lad14 December 2016 at 23:06

      Straight as an arrow. If you think only gays wear lace then you need to get out more, you sound like some old guy in his 50s still stuck in the 1970s. Grab your guitar and tambourine and fly off on your eagle wings. Your time is over old man.

      Delete
    5. I've called you out, haven't I? As a closeted queer? Don't be ashamed, old boy. You like guys. So freakin' what?

      Delete
  5. The priesthood and immaturity go hand in hand.

    For me it was the car. The car always had to be pristine.

    Priests need to embrace the real Cross.

    Its not just a piece of jewellery.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Why do clergy need to drive around in the latest model of car? Mary, Dungannon

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Not all priests are the same.
      Parents usually pay for their first car.
      Our priest has a Mini

      Delete
    2. What evidence have you that Parents buy their Clergy Sons their first car. Sweeping statement because my Parents didn't or couldn't afford to.

      Delete
    3. 16.05
      Did you see the word "usually."

      Delete
  7. What is odd about a granny having a Twitter account.
    Yes I'm a granny of umpteen grandkids , have a Twitter acc and Facebook acc and run a business, read here(God forgive me) and generally behave as I've done this past 70 years.
    No I don't eat sweet foods, so that's why I'm still around
    Gave away all that China crap and mahogany furniture to St Vincent de Paul Years ago.havent time for soaps on tv.
    Fr y needs to grow up and look after his parishioners and his parish work.
    Has he helped to put the crib up, or does someone come in after a day's work to do it .is he torturing the women in the parish to do this and do that.
    What exactly does he do all day besides taking pics for his Twitter acc ?


    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. (To the granny at 13.18 above -)
      Hear hear! Well said! I too still leave for intensive day's work at 7.30 in the mornings. I identify with you in nearly every respect (except that I have moved on from Facebook etc and tend to use the more up to date media sites - -)

      Delete
  8. I don't think it safe to dettol any part of the body unless you want to get skin rashes.Best to stick with the old water, although Himalayan Salt is great for the skin, sprinkle some in your bath.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. If some of them priests had a good scourin with wire brush n dettol that wud settle them

      Delete
    2. My mammy sez tcp cures anything. Might smell a bit though

      Delete
    3. Tom cat pish :-)

      Delete
  9. For feck sake Pat, this is one of your more stupid posts. Priests are allowed an evening off. Watching Downton Abbey with a cup of tea is one of the more wholesome activities a priest could be doing so leave him alone you miserable old fruit, go and do some knitting or whatever you do in your lonely old house.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think the question of immature priests being more interested in china and lace than practical pastoral work is a very important topic.

      Sadly Maynooth is producing far too many Coronation Rose priests.

      You do not have a clue what The Oratory is like.

      Its now 2.10 pm and my doorbell and kitchen has been busy since 10 am.

      I now have 50 mins for a cuppa and a sandwich before my next callers.

      Happy Christmas :-)

      Delete
  10. I think 11.58 is my comment that got lost in space when I tried to send it via my phone. my phone sometimes plays up. Yes I did mean to point out Priesthood and Immaturity can go hand. Many priests find the lifestyle divisive and look for outlets to justify their existence. For me it was the car. It had to be pristine. The danger is when priests seek to satisfy the craving to be normal by turning to sexual impropriety, Alcohol or drugs (Is there a drugs problem in the church?) Its back to basics for the church as an institution. How can a team of dysfunctional gardeners care for a neglected garden I E the Roman Catholic Church entrusted to its care

    ReplyDelete
  11. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. I don't see today's post as particularly relevant as we all have to unwind some way though I must admit, at the personal level, the amount of junk food he is treating himself looks quite childish unless he has already rolled up with the best Lebanese or Moroccan. It does look effeminate but then a half empty, or half full bottle of Bell's or a greased up dildo sitting on the table would probably elicit complaints too though from a different constituency. Live and let live.

    ReplyDelete
  12. I have never ever come across a bigger prick in my days of ministry than you Pat Buckley! Full of your own self importance! You need to get a life my friend or maybe go out and visit the odd sick person instead of sitting at your computer all day monitoring this owl blog! Your jealousy and bitterness towards these young clerics is absolutely shocking! Leave them alone and go and do something useful with yourself!! Begin with writing positive stories and say something nice about the young priests and seminarians studying for our dioceses! We are all mortal and full of sin! Who's perfect?? I'm not and I don't think you are either!! Stop trying to make something perfect when you and this stupid blog or anyone else will not achieve this and simply because the people will never be perfect!! Do us all a favour? Go do something useful Pat. Priest with life experience

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. So, Father, you admit that you have come across a lot of pricks in the priesthood?

      I do not know who you are - as you cowardly hide behind your "anonymous" tag.

      But I quite certain you have never seen my prick - and therefore cannot hold forth on the size of it :-)

      I have a very busy pastoral life that I do not need to write and boast about.

      There are very few positive stories to write about the Men of Maynooth.

      Please let me have them and I will publish them.

      The fact that I have annoyed you says something - what I am not sure of yet.

      If you find my Blog disturbing - then DO NOT READ IT!

      Delete
    2. Anyone who depends on derogatory language to enforce a point is potentially a person with a problem.

      Delete
  13. Pat take no heed of that poster callin you, yes I know you are a very sociable man and a good listener.
    Sean I love my car too, it must be going really good, but could you come over and wash it
    We cd meet in Sligo, my fav place.
    Yes you right about facebook, busy person, I'm what's called a lurker, it keeps me up to date with the 'umpteen' people and I only read Twitter, saves buying the Rags.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. CONTRIBUTOR with DILDO in your comment.

      Could you resubmit?

      It came into the Blog spam box and I deleted it my mistake.

      Sorry. Pat

      Delete
    2. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. I don't think you can make much hay on this topic today. I must admit the set up in the picture looks rather effeminate though it would go splendidly with an ounce of the best Lebanese or Moroccan though the channel would have to be changed. I think everyone deserves their R&R and little treats. If a half empty bottle of Bell's or half full, depending on one's perspective, or a greased up dildo or butt plug was on the table, you would get complaints as well, though probably from a different constituency. Each one to their own.

      Delete
    3. I've got 2004 Peugeot these days. It gets me a to b

      Delete
  14. If watching Downton Abbey and drinking tea was the worst the boys in Maynooth were up to then I think we would all be happy!

    Unfortunately our future Fr X's are being trained in Maynooth as we speak! Time to shut it down!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Well let's face it, the most sappy priests are the guitars and Good News Bible brigade with their anthropocentric lullabies and 'community meals', with their rambling homilies about nothing. So this dull 'traditional priests love lace and are raving homosexuals' shtick is really just another way of saying 'I don't like priests who preach the full gospel'.

    As to the mahogany table and the china cup, what is your suggestion Pat? Do you suggest that he run out and replace the furniture he was no doubt saddled with when he moved into that presbytery? If he does that will you run another story on profligate priests? On the vast curate's salary of 650 a month I am also surprised he hasn't be splashing out at some of the fancier outlets for new tables and crockery.

    And so what if he likes Downton Abbey? Millions of men across the country like it, but won't admit to it - at least he was manly enough to fess up. It's a good show. Do you think he should have been watching darts?

    Now we come on to the health issue. Your solution for his unhealthy diet (like, really, you went there?) is to replace it with a bag of crisps. And who drinks Tennants? If my curate drank Tennants, I would have to assume he wouldn't know what a good beer tastes like - who the hell wants a curate who would opt for a Tennants rather than some good craft beer?

    We really need to address your very old fashioned stereotypes of manliness. The world has moved on Pat and you need to get with it. In an era where most young people question the very concept of gender, there you are like an old dinosaur going on about china cups, manly mugs and crap beer!

    Can we also discuss your dislike of feminine men? Why are you so prejudiced against them?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I doubt if Fr Y was saddled with any furniture

      In Ireland priests furnish their own rooms and take it with them.

      I think there is a liking there for granny furniture, lace, trad vestments, boy bands etc.

      And Im asking if this is mature?

      I loved Downton Abbey.

      And I have absolutely nothing against effeminate men or priests.

      I just like priests to be pastoral and get their hands dirty AND have the smell of the sheep and not Jean Paul Gaultier about them.

      Delete
    2. Sounds as if you like a bit of rough.

      Delete
  16. Great choice of words , priest with life experiences, showing yourself up
    Most on here have life experiences except for Fr x and Fr y
    They need to get a grip and realise that living a life
    Consists of hard work, sacrifices, helping people and putting themselves at the needs of others
    Prick indeed...ignore Pat, you are worth more than he ever could imagine
    Ps I believe bishop Clifford was a good man, but was told today he will be missed as a golfing colleague....yes I could say...Pricks indeed the lot of you

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Gerard Clifford (may he rest in peace) was a company man.

      He was part of the establishment that covered up many things.

      He was rewarded with a mitre.

      He is now best known for his golf swing.

      I hope he is happy in Heaven.

      But what a legacy !!!

      Delete
  17. Normally the presbytery comes furnished as to the basics. My guess is that the TV is his own. I agree that the table does not look great, but most priests' houses are depressing to go into - they look nothing like a normal home.

    Personally I dislike lace. I don't like the look of it. But it was an accepted part of clerical wear for years. An attachment to the much more masculine Mass of St John XXIII is not a mark of immaturity. Rather it is usually prompted by a few things: a disdain for the circus which many modern masses, celebrated under the rite of Blessed Paul VI have become. You pointed this out yourself recently - look at some of those clown masses etc. Another factor is the more emphatic emphasis on the sacrificial character of the Mass - you said yourself that you believe 100% in the real presence - many people think that this belief is being lost by an insufficient emphasis on the sacrificial element of the Mass. Another factor is the sense of mystery and silence in the 1962 rubrics - it is ironic that in a modern age with much talk of a generic spirituality, that we should be so hostile to an experience of the Mass, and so emphatic about listening and following and understanding every single word of the rubrics.

    Delve a bit deeper into why many men (and worldwide, many younger people) you may find they are not the stereotypes you think. You might find yourself surprised. Being 'open' has to work both ways.

    And I cannot see anything at all masculine about the free flowing garish garments so beloved by 'modern' clergy. They lack any underlying meaning, are distracting, and look much more like something that an amateur dramatic society would produce than a fiddleback ever will.

    As to the boy band point - was it not already pointed out that this was simply what was on the TV before Downton Abbey started?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Every presbytery I have lived in Ireland came unfurnished.

      Maybe that has changed. I doubt it.

      When I came to Larne my predecessor had even taken with him the crockery and cutlery.

      My understanding is that that your presbytery decoration is taken care of by the parish but you bring "sticks" with you.

      When I arrived in St Peter's Cathedral in 1978 I inherited two empty rooms.

      I think it is different in England.

      Do you not think that it is strange for a recently ordained priest to vest for Masswith:

      A cassock underneath the alb ( very warm)
      An amice.
      A lace alb.
      A stole crossed in the pre Vatican 11 way.
      A fiddle back Roman vestment.

      And maybe a black biretta?

      Why would a 21st century priest want to dress as a 17th century priest?

      Delete
    2. I'll defer to your better knowledge on furnishings.

      On the vestments, no I don't think it is at all strange. If one celebrates Mass according to the 1962 books, it is prescriptive as to what should be worn. In much the same way as it is not possible in a Mass according to the 1962 books to distribute the Eucharistic in the hand to a communicant who is standing - it must be kneeling and on the tongue. [And wouldn't communion be less of a rugby scrum and less of a catwalk show today if we went back to it? And what a blessing not to be constantly distracted by the comings and goings of the Truly Extraordinary Ministers....but I digress :-))

      On the more generic elements of the vestments that can be used in both forms of the Roman Rite, I do not see why you have an issue with it. On the general point, the garments are highly symbolic - it signifies that care has been taken, that the priest thinks that he is attending to something worthy of the greatest respect. Have you not been to a Mass where the priest looks like he just crawled out of bed and threw a vestment on him - what does that say to you about his expectations of the Mass? To me it says that he doesn't consider it a significant moment. Such is the case with many who do not wear the cassock or the amice. Personally I would update the lace alb as I really do dislike it, but I cannot draw a link between wearing it and being a 'sacristy priest' - that has not been what I have seen.

      But if one is to use the logic you have employed, you can simply say why wear any vestments? Why should a priest wear a clerical collar for example - that was an innovation - they didn't always dress thus? Why should the Pope wear white - again, that is fairly recent development.

      So it is with all clerical wear. There are reasons good and bad. But there is nothing 21st century about wearing a priestly collar and vestments of any description. So I cannot go along with that logic as being persuasive.

      I think you should extend the benefit of the doubt to those who choose to vest differently to you.

      Delete
    3. And if a man appeared in the street wearing the same clothing as King Henry V111 wore - would we say "Oh! that man just dresses differently".

      Would we not be inclined to wonder if there was something wrong with that man?

      These young priests are wearing clothing for Mass that was the norm using the missal of the Council of Trent.

      They are celebrating Mass, in the vernacular, with the most up to date missal dressed like the Cure de Ars - while not of course having the cure's habits.

      Delete
    4. Very disturbing to me if a young Priest is dressing like this. What sort of liturgy was he taught in the Seminary? Most bizarre.

      Delete
    5. He was taught Vatican 11 liturgy.

      But he and others like to dress like the young priest above in my blog - in 17th century vestments.

      Those attending his daily Masses are perplexed by it.

      None of his fellow priests in the parish dress the same.

      He obviously keeps his 17th century vestments in the sacristy.

      Delete
    6. If I was his Bishop I'd be worried.

      Delete
    7. But Bishop Pat, we are not talking about a man in the street. For sure, if he appears in the street in a biretta one might invite him to catch himself on. But there is nothing modern about any form of vestment - they are just fashions. "Modern" vestment looks like something has donned a sheet, sometimes coloured, sometimes white, over their hears. From an aesthetic point of view, the modern stuff just looks rubbish. It is a simple as that. Lowest common denominator stuff that looks like it has been bought at Poundland.

      It is a bit like this modern habit of a priest wearing a suit everywhere. What is all that about? What modern man visits the house of anyone else in a business suit? Just looks weird.

      Or these modern nuns that are soon to disappear off the face of the earth - they cast aside their 17th century habits - look at how that has worked out for them? Are there any left under the age of 70? Whereas cast an eye at those 17th century style traditional orders of nuns - growing.

      Look at the Mass in France where mercifully Holy Spirit is breathing life onto the previously dying embers of the faith - where are the young to be found? In a nice modern Mass with the priest facing his audience in a nice modern vestment? Not likely! You'll find them in the traditional Masses. How easy it would be to take the Neo-Franciscan approach and condemn them all as rigid.

      Delete
    8. I know a Priest who left a Presbytery empty. He had bought furniture, washing machine, recliner chairs, tv, tumble drier and many more things even a sit on lawn mower using parish funds to buy them. When a new priest was appointed his predecessor had taken everything with him - took the lot. Was like taking the eye out of your head and coming back for your eye lash.

      Delete
    9. Did aul cackle daly not do the same thing wen he moved to armagh ?

      Delete
  18. Pat I think you are being most unfair to that young priest. While I have never met him I know who he is as I follow his Twitter account. He may be a little immature but that does not mean he is not a good priest and I have seen no evidence to the contrary here. Like you I love Downton Abbey and I think a nice cup of tea(which always tastes better in a china cup) and a slice of tart would only enhance the enjoyment of it. Of course if you were watching Homeland or somesuch a beer and crisps would help to calm the nerves!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Do you lift your pinky wen you hold your China cup ?

      Delete
  19. I thought, Pat, you were blocked from his social media accounts?

    A big slice of tart and some bars will do him no harm anyhow for there's more meat on a crutch.

    Why are you pursuing him in this obsessive way? Do you have a "thing" for him? Or are you preparing the ground for some sort of "revelation"?

    I don't think his tweet says anything in the slightest about his level of maturity.

    He was settling down, with a few snacks and a brew, to watch a programme that millions of people enjoy. Big deal!

    How do you know what he had had to face that day, or what pastoral work he was involved in earlier? He's entitled to put his feet up for crying out loud!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I am blocked from his social media.

      The picture was sent to me by a clerical colleague in his diocese - one who has not sat on the Cilla Sofa or being interviewed by him or the Red Headed One.

      Delete
    2. Who is he anyway this young Priest? Does Fr Y know Fr X by any chance.

      Delete
    3. A "clerical colleague" sent it? A stalker. Creepy!!

      Delete
    4. I don't think copying and pasting a pic from someone's site satisfies the term stalking!

      Delete
  20. That clerical colleague should be ashamed of himself for ratting out his brother priest to a piece of scum like you

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lovely!

      Have you ever heard me call any human being scum?

      Not everyone in Father Y's diocese loves him the way some do.

      Delete
  21. Bishop Pat, the slightly alarming thing here is that your liturgical views are an exact mirror of the liturgical outlook at Maynooth. For that reason alone, you might want to reflect.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My liturgical views:

      I like the Vatican 11 liturgy.

      If people wanted to use my Oratory for Tridentine liturgies I would have no problem.

      If a group of Tridentines wanted me to celebrate a Tridentine Mass for them I would have no problem

      I just think that a 21st century priest should generally speaking celebrate the 21st century in the vernacular dressed in 21 st century liturgical fashion.

      I worry about all these young, obviously gay priests - many active - living a 21st century sexual life style but wanting to wear medieval clothing for Mass.

      I think it points to a serious spiritual, theological and psychological connect.

      Delete
    2. Thanks, and I appreciate your openness to the Extraordinary Form.

      I have no problem with the Ordinary Form if celebrated properly. The problem often is that the lack of reverence means that it becomes a talking shop for the projection of the personality of the priest, whereas the personality of the priest should be of no importance. It is this central factor which has led millions all over the world to conclude that their faith is strengthened by attending the Extraordinary Form.

      I have no problem with liturgically updated vestments in principle, but they are simply fashions. The current vestments normally used are hideous and are only 21st century because we have deemed them to be so. There is nothing intrinsically modern about them. Fiddlebacks would be 21st Century if they continued to be in common use. Some good taste would be great. It is absent today. They just look dreary and banal and serve little purpose. The priest might as well not bother and instead celebrate in his old-fashioned suit.

      I have no issue if a priest is gay or not and consider it to be a strictly private matter for the internal forum, unless they are practising it. In which case, they should reflect on their vows. But I emphatically reject your connection of an attachment to Tradition with an attachment to the gay culture.

      The fact is that most of the younger generation of Catholics are more traditional or conservative than their predecessors. Clearly, that will be reflected in the preferences of priests. Ireland, as always well behind the times, is also behind the times in seeing the strength of the growth of Tradition.

      So I agree with you if you are discussing the dichotomy between living a hedonistic sexual lifestyle, or a support for a gay subculture, while supporting Tradition.

      But taken on its own terms, support for Tradition is in fact very modern and is, on a general basis, associated with a conservative doctrinal position, including on matters of moral theology. You noted on this blog before that one of the few seminaries where you thought a homosexual subculture did not exist was Econe.

      The vast majority of priest engaging in a double life are thoroughly modern in liturgical views.

      Delete
  22. So it's the famous one ordained in 2012 by the brady...say no more
    Didn't realise that Brady did ordinations after his famous scribbled scrap of paper became public.
    They ancient there using China covered in pink roses..prob bought in the Tuesday market or donated by one of those old biddys
    Armagh is ancient and yes they get all the wemen running after them Making tea and sandwiches Lol
    Think it's a shared house so yes the brown wood a fixture from all the goingson over the years and the great variety of characters...far too many in disgrace over the years...could be smitten or is that infected
    Needs a good clear out.

    ReplyDelete
  23. For the non irish reading here
    Apple Pie is called apple tart here
    Yes really, we are truly very sexual minded at all times.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. In Belfast we call it a wee apple cake. My mor wuzza grate oul baker so she wuz. Her big baps were the talk o the road so they were. Big Lily

      Delete
  24. Is it true Fr X has now left? Heard today a Bishop in the North has dismissed a Priest. He will probably still get his salary and benefits though.

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    Replies
    1. Can you provide any more specific information on this?

      Delete
  25. So Pat, has he gone for a cure of his abomination, as in the supposed iris robinson cure
    Come on , Pat, can u tell us.
    Growing a beard Will be his first priority.

    ReplyDelete
  26. See big lily, u always need the sexual innuendo
    Typical irish man / woman
    Everything in ireland is wee this or wee that

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    1. Ack shure luv i havint a clue wat yoor talkin bout so a havint.

      Shoor my mawn's dead this thirty odd yeers and left me wif 15 childer so he did. I havint had naffin saxshal since so a havint.

      I wuz just talkin bout my mor's wee apple cakes and her luvly big baps so a wuz.

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  27. Timmo for Armagh Auxillary. Hear hear!

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    1. There are far worthier candidates in Armagh and elsewhere (indeed anywhere) than that eejit.

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  28. Sure Pat, he wd have emailed you
    You said you were friends for a long time.
    Most reading here have prayed that he would do the right thing.
    How many more need to look into their vocations
    How many more are committing sarcrilege daily

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  29. Its best Fr X has now gone. Who is next in line?

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  30. Bishop Buckley
    It seems that you can trivialise the important issues you were seeking to address. Showing a photo of a TV, table, tea-cup, and slice of pie is designed to demonstrate, what? If I understand your commentary, it is designed to demonstrate complacency, idleness, and a priest being out of touch with the real world and real-life issues. By comparison with the idle priests you cite your activities with joy-riders, youth clubs, and patrolling your parish boundaries at night. You compare the easy life of anonymous priests with your life of service of a parish. The priests you despise are faithless and weak, addicted to TV soaps, sugar and soft sofas. You are made of sterner stuff.
    And then, turning tack, you mock the vestments that some priests wear. They offend you. Why? Surely the clerical vestmentation of which you complain is nothing other than a variant of the traditional garb of Catholic priests? Are you not grumbling about trifles? Besides, are not our vestments derived from the centuries-old traditions of the Middle East? The soutane, the long shirt, the thobe - still worn in Middle Eastern and African countries formerly under Arab influence. Are they not exactly the same, just different names?
    The thrust of your Blog is that the Catholic Church in Ireland is hypocritical. Its leaders are concerned only with their status and material well-being. They are not true pastors. Its recruits seek priestly formation in the hope of contracting homosexual relationships and an easy life. As an ageing Irishman I have had multiple contacts with priests in this country from school-days onwards. I am not an apologist for the Church but in truth and fairness I have never found any of the priests I encountered to be as you portray. Are there bad apples? Every barrel has them. Does that make us despair and never eat apples again?
    Athlone Andy

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  31. http://www.advocate.com/religion/2016/12/07/pope-reiterates-catholic-churchs-ban-gay-priests

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  32. Why do you not answer our questions?
    Pip and Sam Fan Club

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    1. Pip and Sam just go and get a life. Not surprised you don't get any answers because your questions are the same old boring mantra. Unending bleating on, I for one find you boring. Have you not got your budgies to look after.

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    2. I am also interested in Bishop Buckley's reply yo the very simple question put to him!
      Doe he not have any conscience or sense of responsibility for the fact that at least eight of those no longer go to Mass because of his Lordship.
      Do you not, 10.47, have any concerns about this?
      If the Bishop answered the question instead of waffling about we would not ask any more!
      Read his inane answers. He sidesteps, ignores - well up with and ahead of our politicians!
      Have they read a book called something like - 101 ways to avoid to say nothing in answer to a question.
      I am sure Pip's budgies could answer straight questions.
      And they have BIRD BRAINS...?
      What sort of pin-head brain have you?

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  33. It's sad if fr x is gone-just like that! It is not a "cure" Just making a symptom go away.

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  34. "Sad"? Are you fekin' (to use your quirky turn of phrase) kidding us? What's sad about getting rid of that revolting b**t**d?

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